California Coastal Fishing Update: Salmon, Rockfish, and Tuna Bite Heating Up

Artificial Lure here with your Pacific Ocean, California angling update for Sunday, September 7th, 2025. We’re rolling in on the tail of a hot salmon run, riding some big tides, and enjoying a classic California late-summer pattern. Let’s get right to it.

**Sunrise hit at 6:34 a.m. with sundown coming at 7:14 p.m. in Ventura, and not much different up the coast. Right now, we have huge tidal swings, with a high tide mid-morning just over five feet and another around 10 p.m. Peaks like this mean strong currents and active fish, especially right at the change. Tides4Fishing reports we’re seeing tidal coefficients north of 90, so plan your timing—slack water isn’t lasting long today.**

**Weather’s steady and seasonable:** middle 60s at dawn, pushing up into the 70s by mid-day with typical marine layer burning off fast. The Ocean Prediction Center calls for fair weather, light northwest winds, and manageable swells for most of the day. No gnarly fronts moving in just yet, so the bite should hold.

**Now for the action:** Up north, it’s been all about the king salmon—limits and near-limits continue out of the Bay Area. According to Nor Cal Fish Reports, the California Dawn and the New Easy Rider both scored 38 king salmon each yesterday, with fish up to 28 pounds. Emeryville boats are still dialed in, so if you haven’t gotten in on the salmon window, you’d best hustle—these fish are stacked and chewing hard on anchovy-pattern spoons and twelve-inch flashers. Trolling is absolutely king right now, but mooching cut plug herring will produce if you’d rather anchor up and go old school.

**Central Coast around Santa Barbara and Ventura is seeing classic September variety:** Stardust Sportfishing out of Santa Barbara is landing limits of sand bass, half limits of rockfish, really nice grades of whitefish, a few lingcod, and the occasional sheephead. Earlier in the week, Stardust had 230 whitefish and 173 rockfish on a 3/4-day run, so bottom fishing is on fire. Plastics on leadheads and double dropper loops with squid are your go-tos for everything from rockfish to bass. Lingcod have been biting on big swimbaits and whole mackerel, so bring your heavy gear.

**Southern California reports from Marina Del Rey say calico bass, lingcod, whitefish, and a healthy mix of sheephead and rockfish are all coming over the rail—sand bass and rockfish remain the bread-and-butter on the half- and three-quarter-day boats, and the bite heats up on the outgoing tide. Dropper loops with fresh squid are still the best setup.**

**Offshore, bluefin tuna and yellowtail activity has perked back up after a brief slow stretch. Fisherman’s Landing reported “excellent fishing today” with solid bluefin in the mix and yellowtail filling out counts. If you’re running long, flat-fall jigs and live sardines are your best bet for those tuna—the bite tends to be best very early and just before dark, matched to those tide swings.**

**A couple of hot spots for today:**
- **North:** Point Reyes to the Farallons is smoking for salmon—target the 80-120 ft range trolling.
- **Central:** The Santa Barbara Channel reefs for whitefish and rockfish, especially on the west side.
- **South:** The Horseshoe Kelp off San Pedro for steady bass, or outside the 43-fathom spot for tuna if you’ve got the range.

**Quick baits and lures tip:**
- For salmon: *Anchovy-pattern spoons, twelve-inch flashers, or cut plug herring.*
- For rockfish and whitefish: *Squid strips and double dropper loops bring the best results.*
- For tuna: *Flat-fall jigs and live sardines are deadly on their run-and-gun bite windows.*

That’s your on-the-water rundown—get out there, time your stops around the big tides, and don’t forget to adjust target species based on what mother ocean gives you.

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